Illinois is one of the few states where the remedy is worth more than the wages. A worker underpaid under the Illinois Minimum Wage Law can recover three times the underpayment, plus 5% of it every month it stays unpaid, plus attorney's fees, going back three years. Siegel Law Group represents employees — never employers — and has recovered more than $100 million for workers, including six overtime settlements in the Northern District of Illinois.1
The Illinois Minimum Wage Law provides that "no employer shall employ any of his employees for a workweek of more than 40 hours unless such employee receives compensation for his employment in excess of the hours above specified at a rate not less than 1 1/2 times the regular rate at which he is employed."2 No daily overtime; the workweek is the unit, and the employer bears the burden of proving any exemption.
Illinois has a statewide rate and two local ordinances that beat it, each with its own coverage rules.
Your overtime rate is built on your regular rate, which includes most bonuses and commissions.
Illinois exempts "any employee employed in a bona fide executive, administrative or professional capacity" and ties that exemption to the federal Act and its rules "as both exist on March 30, 2003."6 Under the federal regulations now in force the salary floor is $684 per week, $35,568 a year: the 2024 increase was vacated in litigation and the Department of Labor restored the earlier figure in May 2026.7 Illinois adds no higher number, and because the statute fixes its cross-reference to a 2003 date, which salary test governs an Illinois claim is a question for a lawyer. What is not in doubt: salary is a payment method, a title is marketing, and duties decide.
A salaried case manager earning $62,400 — $1,200 a week for a 40-hour job — who works 50 hours has a regular rate of $30. Those ten overtime hours run about $450 a week, $23,400 a year, before trebling. How a misclassified worker's regular rate is computed is itself litigated, so treat that as an illustration.
Two moves account for most of it: the exempt label without the duties, and the 1099. Across healthcare, warehousing, manufacturing, insurance, and retail the violations repeat — unpaid pre-shift setup and post-shift cleanup, working through lunch, after-hours calls, bonuses left out of the regular rate, trimmed time records. We concentrate in these cases for case managers, care coordinators, and utilization review staff.
Mandatory overtime is generally lawful, and refusing it can get you disciplined. Not paying for it is a different matter, and no agreement fixes it: "any agreement between the employee and the employer to work for less than such wage is no defense."8
Retaliation is its own claim. An employee retaliated against for complaining about unpaid wages "shall be entitled to recover … all legal and equitable relief as may be appropriate," plus costs and reasonable attorney's fees in a civil action, and the employer or its agent commits a Class C misdemeanor.9
Under the Minimum Wage Law, "every such action shall be brought within 3 years from the date of the underpayment."8 Federal law allows two years, three if willful.10 Each week that passes drops a week of back pay off the far end permanently — see statute of limitations.
Federal law is opt-in: "no employee shall be a party plaintiff to any such action unless he gives his consent in writing."11 Stay silent and you are not in a coworker's federal case. The Illinois Minimum Wage Law has no written-consent requirement; it lets the underpaid employee "recover in a civil action."8 That is why Illinois wage cases are commonly filed as a federal collective and a state class together — the pair reaches more workers than either alone. See collective actions.
You can file with the Illinois Department of Labor's Fair Labor Standards Division, with the U.S. Department of Labor, or sue.12 No agency filing is required first — but under the Wage Payment and Collection Act you must choose: recovery runs "through a claim filed with the Department of Labor or in a civil action, but not both."13
Section 12 is where Illinois earns its reputation. An underpaid employee may "recover in a civil action treble the amount of any such underpayments together with costs and such reasonable attorney's fees as may be allowed by the Court, and damages of 5% of the amount of any such underpayments for each month … during which such underpayments remain unpaid."8 The 5% figure comes from the 2019 amendment and keeps accruing. Separate penalties — up to 20% for willful, repeated, or reckless conduct, plus $1,500 to the Wage Theft Enforcement Fund — run to the state, not to you. We take these cases on contingency.
Jack Siegel has filed more than 100 federal overtime lawsuits in 27 federal courts, earned 50 or more class and collective certifications, and recovered more than $100 million for workers, as lead counsel on the firm's cases. Illinois is a core venue: published results in the Northern District of Illinois include Brewer v. Molina and Gongora-Ownby v. Molina ($3,375,520.89), Slaughter v. Caidan ($3.25 million), Linnear v. IlliniCare ($2.5 million for care coordinators), and Green v. Reliance Standard ($925,000). Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.1 See our cases.
$15.00 statewide for workers 18 and older, $9.00 for tipped workers, $13.00 for workers under 18 working fewer than 650 hours a year. Chicago is $17.05 and suburban Cook County is $15.40, both effective July 1, 2026.
The statute says treble the underpayment, plus 5% of it monthly while unpaid, plus costs and fees. What a court awards depends on the facts and the proof.
Three years from the underpayment — longer than the federal default of two. Waiting erases back pay week by week.
For a federal claim, yes — written consent must be filed with the court. The Illinois Minimum Wage Law has no such requirement, which is why these cases are usually filed as a federal collective and a state class together.
Chicago's ordinance reaches employers with four or more employees for work performed in the city; suburban Cook County's reaches employers located in the County employing someone there at least two hours a week. Where you work matters more than where the company sits.
Every consultation is free and confidential. We take overtime cases on contingency: we advance the costs of the case, those costs are repaid out of any recovery, and if we do not recover you owe us nothing — no fee and no costs. Request a free case review or call (214) 790-4454. Siegel Law Group PLLC, 8350 N Central Expy #850, Dallas, TX 75206.
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